When I was a little girl I was obsessed with missionary biographies. Eric Liddell, Hudson Taylor, and Grace Aylward were my special heroes. I read their stories and then read them again — always fascinated by their willingness to give up their lives for the sake of people they had never met.

Years later, those stories inspired me to embark on a missionary journey of my own. My husband Jordan and I visited five countries over six months, trying to learn more about the world and how we could serve people in need. We thought maybe God would use the trip to make us into full-time missionaries, that maybe we would end up staying in one of the countries we visited. But instead, God used the trip to call us back to Canada. He wants us to be missionaries here.

It might seem like a comfortable calling, but I’m finding it’s certainly not easy. How am I supposed to serve and love my brothers and sisters around the world when I’m not with them? It’s hard to remember my hungry friends in Rwanda when I always have a full stomache, and it feels impossible to help them from so far away.

Maybe you’ve felt the same way at some point? Whether you’ve travelled or not, our increasingly connected world means that we’re able to be aware of suffering and poverty in all corners of the earth. God commands us to meet these needs in Jesus’ name, but how are we supposed to do that from home?

If you’ll stick with me, I’m going to write about my successes and failures as I wrestle with those questions all through the year. Maybe you and I can learn together how we can become Eric Liddells, Hudson Taylors, and Grace Aylwards, giving up our lives for the sake of people we have never met.

 

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